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Thread: Millers Falls Tote Material?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Michiana
    Posts
    3,047

    Millers Falls Tote Material?

    Greetings to all,

    I picked up a Millers Falls #10 (type 3 I think) at an auction a while back. The tote has been broken and poorly repaired. This tote is some sort of hardwood with a dark red stain. I'd like to find a replacement but am unsure where to turn for the correct wood/stain combo. I suppose I could make a new one but again I'm not sure what wood to use.

    Any ideas?

    All input is welcome.

    - Rob
    Sharp solves all manner of problems.

  2. #2
    Not to be smart, but with that much stain on wood it probably doesn't make much difference what wood you use because very little of it will show through after the finishing is done I would probably choose hickory or hard maple for strength of the handle and then dye the wood a blood red tone with aniline dye. You will then have to shade it with red-mahogany gel stain stain, followed by your favorite gloss topcoat. I would choose lacquer. Those plane totes and knobs were originally coated very heavily (dipped?) with tinted lacquer or varnish; so much of the color is in the top coat. Stanley 750 chisels were hickory with a deep red finish and I have made new handles for those using the above finishing schedule.
    Last edited by Mike Brady; 10-08-2008 at 11:24 PM.

  3. #3
    Beech is that most plane makers used..
    I would use a Red Mahogany Varnish and be mess with dying like MFs did...

    Like others said any tight grained hard wood would work..
    aka rarebear - Hand Planes 101 - RexMill - The Resource

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Prince Edward Island, Canada's Ocean Playground
    Posts
    232

    Millers Falls Totes

    Rob,

    I have a fair number of MF Bench Planes and I think that the older Types I and II with Cocobolo look much sharper than the later Types IV and V with the heavily lacquered orange totes. The Type III were just dyed domestic hardwood and looked quite plain in comparison to the other Types. Randy Roeder's site provides good examples of the different types.

    http://oldtoolheaven.com/bench/benchtypes.htm

    If you have a few dollars and want to let someone else do the work, Greg Droz shows some beautiful repro sets on his site for a very reasonable fee considering the labour involved. If I need new totes, I would go to him.

    http://www.drozsoldetymestanleytotesandknobs.com/

    Cheers,

    Erik

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Michiana
    Posts
    3,047
    Eric - I concur that the Cocobolo looks nicer, but my original intent was to stay true to type. In the end I may take advantage of the bargain Greg Droz offers. This plane will make a nice user and I plan on keeping it.

    - Rob
    Sharp solves all manner of problems.

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